Criminal Justice Reporter
Shelly Bradbury
Shelly Bradbury is the criminal justice enterprise reporter at the Denver Post. She joined the paper in 2019 and previously worked as a crime reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pennsylvania and the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. She’s been a reporter since 2012, focused on policing, public safety, jails and courts. In Pittsburgh, she helped the newspaper earn the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news after a mass shooting at a local synagogue, and in 2020 she was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting for an investigation into child sexual abuse among Amish and Mennonite communities.
Featured Stories

More people died in police chases in this Denver suburb than in the state’s biggest cities
The Denver Post examined the region’s approach to police pursuits after the Aurora Police Department quietly broadened its policy in October to allow officers to chase more suspects.

Inside the investigation of a CBI scientist’s years of misconduct: “God forbid we have someone in prison that shouldn’t be”
During the internal affairs investigation, Yvonne "Missy" Woods' colleagues reacted to her conduct with anger, betrayal and bewilderment, their interviews show.

How Pueblo weaponizes contempt of court to inflate jail time for minor crimes
Pueblo city judges have sent people to jail for months on charges that in other Colorado courts are punished by one or two days in jail. Experts call it "draconian"...
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Twelve Tribes’ businesses like Yellow Deli exploit cult followers for free labor, ex-members say
Twelve Tribes members live communally, sharing money and resources, and all of the group's businesses are staffed by members who work without pay, ex-members told The Denver Post.

At least 50 vehicles involved in six pileups on Interstate 25, temporarily closing northbound lanes in Denver
A multiple vehicle crash closed Interstate 25 northbound in Denver Sunday amid snowy and slick road conditions.

Ex-top prosecutor alleges gender pay gap at Denver District Attorney’s office
A former top prosecutor in the Denver District Attorney’s office claimed in a lawsuit last week that she was paid less than her male colleagues as part of systematic gender...

Steady snow expected all day Sunday in Denver metro
Most Denver metro residents woke up to between one and four inches of snow Sunday morning, and another few inches are expected to fall steadily throughout the day Sunday.

How young is too young to be charged with a crime? Lawmakers want to increase Colorado’s minimum age.
State Sen. Julie Gonzales and Reps. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Jennifer Bacon are pushing to raise the minimum age for juvenile prosecutions in the state from 10 to 13 in all...

“They are evil”: Ex-Twelve Tribes members describe child abuse, control inside religious cult
Twelve Tribes followers take pains to present an innocuous front to outsiders. They attract new members with a folksy peace-and-love, all-are-welcome message, but underneath that hollow promise of utopia lies...

A serial killer lied about murdering a Colorado woman. Four decades later, a new suspect will stand trial.
Just two years after Sylvia Quayle was raped, shot and stabbed to death in her Cherry Hills Village home in 1981, a self-professed serial killer confessed to the crime, and...

Five dead in Commerce City apartment likely overdosed on fentanyl, DA says
The five people who died inside a Commerce City apartment likely overdosed unintentionally on fentanyl, 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason said Monday.

Five people found dead in Commerce City apartment
The bodies of three women and two men were discovered around 3:45 p.m. inside a home at The North Range Crossings Apartments at 14480 E. 104th Ave., Commerce City police...

State hospital treating King Soopers suspect fails to report to court
The state mental health hospital treating the suspect in the Boulder King Soopers mass shooting has failed to report to the court about the man’s condition, 20th Judicial District Chief...